The Intersection of Transnational and International Criminal Law: Some Remarks on The Icc’s Bangladesh/Myanmar Situation
| author | Aneta Fraser () |
| journal | RIDP (ISSN: 0223-5404) |
| volume | 2026 |
| issue | Criminal Justice Systems and Organised Crime: Old Problems and New Perspectives |
| section | Organised Crime Between Transnational Dimension and Illicit Businesses and Trafficking |
| publicatie datum | 3 juin 2026 |
| langue | English |
| pagina | 153 |
| OID | |
| abstract | When transnational criminal law proves to be an insufficient instrument for addressing organised crime, it may be necessary to turn to international criminal law, where criminal liability is prosecuted not by national courts, but by international tribunals. Although such an approach may prima facie seem unusual, to a certain extent and in specific instances, convergence between these two areas is indeed possible. One point of reference for the intersection of transnational and international criminal law is the situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar. In this instance, the International Criminal Court has authorised the Prosecutor to investigate the crimes committed ‘within the context of the 2016 and 2017 wave of violence’ against the Rohingya population, provided that ‘at least one element’ of those crime occurred in Bangladesh or that the crimes were ‘sufficiently linked to these events’. The most recent statistics provided by the Global Organised Crime Index 2025 continue to indicate not only a high level of state-embedded actors in Myanmar, but also that it is the country with the highest level of organised crime in the world. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to determine the scope of overlap between transnational and international criminal law stricto sensu, with specific reference to the Bangladesh/Myanmar situation. |

